Covid Predictions for 2021

[Thewiseoneincognito]

Behold! A New Year cometh! What do you think will come our way in 2021? Intrigued to hear people’s opinions, I’ll go first...

1. Possible full UK lockdown with school closures once the devastation from Christmas mixing becomes apparent early January. We may see harsher restrictions come in to play too.

2. Vaccine successes and failures. With so many companies coming forward with various concoctions it is a given that there will be issues with at least some of them. I have a feeling the virus may well adapt too. Vaxxed people letting their guard down only to find themselves not as immune as first hoped.

3. More mutations particularly as people who have already had it get reinfected and pass it on. The odds seem stacked against us so I’m expecting a nastier mutation in 2021.

4. A fourth National Lockdown possibly around May/ June depending how long the third lasts for.

5. Furlough scheme extended indefinitely perhaps morphed into a universal basic income once it becomes evident certain industries will not be returning for a very long time (theatres, clubs, live music venues etc)

6. High street catastrophe following another longer hard lockdown.

7. Unrest as people split into believers and non believer camps. I expect more prolific calling out those who refuse to wear masks or comply with restrictions.

8. A breakthrough or realisation that may shift everyone’s perception and understanding significantly.

9. Widespread NHS recruitment drive to deal with new reality of constant covid patients. The key to future lockdowns being less drastic is a more robust NHS.

I read this today, TL:DR A lot better than winter-time because we can live life outdoors, but still not "back to normal"

www.wired.co.uk/article/summer-plans-coronavirus-experts

Rather chilling to look back at these predictions and realise how scarily accurate they ended up being.

1. Tick. The entirety of the beginning of 2021 was spent in Lockdown.
2. Tick. Those that are vaccinated can still catch and spread Covid.
3. Tick. One word - Delta.
4. Given the scale of the growth in cases in June, one could argue that our government should have implemented a Lockdown there and then.
5. Tick. Furlough still in place.
6. Tick. More and more household names continue to bite the dust.
7. Tick. The conspiracy nuts are worse than ever. And not just on here!
8. Tick. The realisation that herd immunity is no longer possible is the biggest one. So far.
9. One could dream, but our government would rather pump money into saving Pret than helping our NHS.

Hopefully this gives the "it's over" crowd some food for thought.

23/01/2021
Onlinedilema
I think there will be new technology. Something along the lines of inventing a virtual concert experience...

Interesting that people shouted this prediction down, but it's kind of going happen with the ABBA tour

@Flaxmeadow

23/01/2021 Onlinedilema I think there will be new technology. Something along the lines of inventing a virtual concert experience...

Interesting that people shouted this prediction down, but it's kind of going happen with the ABBA tour

I do think that one of the silver linings of the pandemic is that we've learned that so many things can be done virtually.

I think that one of the dark clouds of the pandemic is that some people believe that doing things virtually is any susbtitute for real life contact

It's fine for a short while but we should not aspire to this in the longer term. We are social animals. And I say that as an introvert. What it must be like for the extroverts, I can't imagine.

@PopcornMuncher

I think that one of the dark clouds of the pandemic is that some people believe that doing things virtually is any susbtitute for real life contact

It's fine for a short while but we should not aspire to this in the longer term. We are social animals. And I say that as an introvert. What it must be like for the extroverts, I can't imagine.

This. Zoom, Teams etc are not a substitute for real life contact either socially or for work no matter how much some posters seem to think they are.

I do think that one of the silver linings of the pandemic is that we've learned that so many things can be done virtually.

Yes things can be done virtually but it doesn't mean they should be. You might not like human contact @NannyAndJohn but the majority of us do. I went to London with friends at the weekend and loved being out and seeing other people.

@PopcornMuncher

I think that one of the dark clouds of the pandemic is that some people believe that doing things virtually is any susbtitute for real life contact

It's fine for a short while but we should not aspire to this in the longer term. We are social animals. And I say that as an introvert. What it must be like for the extroverts, I can't imagine.

Well, some people really believe it. I’m not sure that the type of posters who are loudest about pushing it do. Otherwise, I think, they’d be doing more to persuade people, and less of the forum-posting equivalent of dancing into a thread sideways with jazz hands going “Zoom weddings forever, everybody look at meeeeeeee!”

But, also, there are very lonely and/or unsociable people who are in an odd way quite glad to see the social lives of others shut down. And people who think the stuff they want to do should be allowed, but all that ‘non-essential’ nonsense other people like can be delivered virtually instead.

I have found 2021 better than I expected. Except for travelling.

There are so many things aside from Covid that for me is learning to live with it.

Well, some people really believe it. I’m not sure that the type of posters who are loudest about pushing it do. Otherwise, I think, they’d be doing more to persuade people, and less of the forum-posting equivalent of dancing into a thread sideways with jazz hands going “Zoom weddings forever, everybody look at meeeeeeee!”

Well yeah, obviously some people on here are genuine and some are.... not.

'But, also, there are very lonely and/or unsociable people who are in an odd way quite glad to see the social lives of others shut down'

I wouldn't call myself lonely or unsociable but I am happy with my own company. However, I certainly haven't enjoyed seeing the social lives of others shut down. In fact, I was so glad when things started opening up and it made me realise how restricted the lives of my adult children had become. Lovely to see them getting back to more normal activities, within limits, now that they're both double vaccinated.

Missed the part: ‘all restrictions to be dropped in July 2021 and no huge increase in deaths’.

I don’t think anyone thought that in Dec 2020 we were in a good place. So not sure the point of this thread? I don’t think even the vaccines had been developed.

How far we’ve come in just 8 months!

First vaccine outside trials was given in early/mid December, so we knew it was coming.

I do think that one of the silver linings of the pandemic is that we've learned that so many things can be done virtually.

Most things "can" be done virtually. It's just that the virtual version tends to be a bit shit.

@PinkSparklyPussyCat

I do think that one of the silver linings of the pandemic is that we've learned that so many things can be done virtually.

Yes things can be done virtually but it doesn't mean they should be. You might not like human contact @NannyAndJohn but the majority of us do. I went to London with friends at the weekend and loved being out and seeing other people.

I'd be very happy to do all that.

Just not in a global pandemic, eh?

@Delatron

I don’t think anyone thought that in Dec 2020 we were in a good place. So not sure the point of this thread? I don’t think even the vaccines had been developed.

How far we’ve come in just 8 months!

Yeah, 40000 cases a day (and rising) and schools back with zero mitigations.

We've come so fucking far.

I'd be very happy to do all that.

Just not in a global pandemic, eh?

Why not, everything is open. How long do you want us to hide away for? I'm sure the businesses who benefited from us and a lot of others spending money are glad not everyone thinks like you.

Yes schools back to normal! Hurrah. We’ve come so far. Thank goodness.

Cases not translating in to deaths. Again we’ve come so far.

We knew the vaccines were coming @Cookerhood but did we know how effective they’d be? Things did improve once that was clear.

I think many would have made the predictions at the beginning of this thread. We were in a different place last December.

Also what type of person @NannyAndJohn hunts down these type of threads to bump them up. Must have taken you ages? What’s your agenda.

Funny you couldn’t find any of your own predictions to bump. Mainly as they were all a load of crap 🤣

@Delatron

Also what type of person *@NannyAndJohn* hunts down these type of threads to bump them up. Must have taken you ages? What’s your agenda.

Funny you couldn’t find any of your own predictions to bump. Mainly as they were all a load of crap 🤣

Because I believe it's important to look back upon previous predictions and reflect upon what we got right (see the OP), and what we got wrong (see the "it's over" mob).

And I wasn't around at the beginning of the year so was unable to contribute to these predictions.

Nobody said it was over in Dec 2020! It was obvious it wasn’t, we were hitting 60,000 cases a day in Jan. Not one person thought it was over. I was fully supportive of closures in Dec/Jan.

With the vaccines did we all become optimistic about the summer? Yes. Have we lifted all restrictions yes?

I didn’t actually think I’d get away this summer but managed it. It’s been better than I predicted.

Well maybe if you were around in Dec 2020 you would have realised not one person was claiming it was over then... stick to the facts please otherwise you look very silly.

Because I believe it's important to look back upon previous predictions and reflect upon what we got right (see the OP), and what we got wrong (see the "it's over" mob).

Will you be reflecting on your predictions @NannyAndJohn as I believe the majority fall in the 'what we got wrong' category?